180 THE GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS. 



13,441 feet ; on the mountains of Caucasus, 

 10,602 feet ; on the Appenines, 9,231 feet ; 

 on the Swiss Alps, 8,500 feet ; on the moun- 

 tains of Norway and Sweden, 5,019 feet ; in 

 Iceland, 2,642 feet ; at the North Cape, 2,275 

 feet ; while, near the pole itself, it is nearly on 

 the sea level, snow and ice being there per- 

 petual. There are, however, a few partial ex- 

 ceptions to this rule. The volcano of Arequipa, 

 which rises to an elevation of 18,000 feet above 

 the level of the sea, shows but a very little 

 snow on one side of its highest point. In the 

 Himalayan Mountains, in the Nutro Pass, at a 

 height of 16,840 feet, there is no permanent 

 snow. The whole western part of the Himalayas 

 is as high as from 12,000 to 18,000 feet, and 

 yet but a very little snow is seen there, and 

 the vegetation ascends almost as high as 16,000 

 feet. It will be evident, therefore, on a moment's 

 consideration, that even at the equator itself, 

 in the midst of the torrid zone, a mountain 

 of sufficient height may have every variety of 

 climate at its foot, graduating into temperate in 

 its higher regions, and this, by degrees, passing 

 into arctic, and even a polar temperature at 

 its summit. 



Our survey of the vegetation of these various 

 climes will have prepared us already to antici- 

 pate most of those which distinguish the various 

 regions which succeed one another as we ascend. 

 Our notice of each will, therefore, be very brief. 

 We may just remark, that in some of the 

 Andes, the whole of these regions may be seen 



